Worst Day On the Water?

[Zogman]

Coming out of the west end of Quandary Bay put the hammer down following my neighbor. Was about 3 feet of course. Big big BAMM. Really damaged the lower unit. Got pulled in to Young's Bay. Longest 22 miles ever.

 

[Captainbrad]

We took a drive that day as we stayed in because of wind. My dad, a buddy and I were the ones that picked you up.

No kidding- THANK YOU!

 

[Captain Ahab]

If I remember right you were on the NW corner of Mauvais on the south side of hwy 19. That was a doozy of a day.

 

[Captainbrad]

If I remember right you were on the NW corner of Mauvais on the south side of hwy 19. That was a doozy of a day.

That was the day. After we got loaded up we gave another guy a ride to Grahams and saw a whole tree ride a wave over the highway.

 

[sl1000794]

What I thought was going to be my worst day (or my last day on this earth) ended up not too bad in the end. Four of us headed out for albacore tuna from Piller Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay) on a ssw heading. Don't remember how far out the fish were (35 to 40 nm) but the seas were not bad and we were quartering down hill. After an hour or so (out 18 - 19 nm) the cuddy cabin filled up with smoke. I have a 22' Seaswirl Striper with a walk-around cuddy that I use for fishing, crabbing and diving. I pulled back into neutral and shut the engine down. I told one of the guys to get the life jackets out of the cabin and I called a May Day on channel 16 on the marine radio. The guy tried to get the jackets, but the smoke was too much so it took a few seconds. My May Day got an IMMEDIATE response from Coast Guard San Francisco with what was my situation, my boat and my location. After I gave them that info (smoke in the cabin) they wanted to launch a helicopter. I said that we would look in the engine compartment (IO with a 351 ford engine.) When we had our life jackets on and with fire extinguishers in hand we pulled the engine cover back and just more smoke. I radioed back to the CG and told them that we didn't have a fire onboard. They turned me over to the Harbor Master at Piller Point and the he sent out their crew boat to tow us in. It was a 32' boat and pulled us in up on plane at 16 - 17 knots. They wouldn't take any cash and it all ended well. If we had had a fire and had to go into the 50° water the boat with almost all of it's 100 gallons of gas would have burned to the water line and then sunk with the swells filling it up. It ended up that one of the back flow devise ss pins on the exhaust systems had corroded and the hard rubber baffle had wedged in the exhaust line blocking it and the hot exhaust had burned it enough to fill the engine compartment with smoke. The scallops on the side of the boat that ventilate the engine compartment pushed the smoke into the cabin thru the passage ways on the side of the boat where wiring runs from the engine compartment to the helm. Lots of other stories, but this one could have ended up the worst.

 

[CatDaddy]

This is too cool....two NDA legends with this story together is just awesome. Glad you connected the dots!

That was the day. After we got loaded up we gave another guy a ride to Grahams and saw a whole tree ride a wave over the highway.

 

[NDSportsman]

Worst day on the water was about 30 years ago. I was about 15 and fishing with my dad in a little 14 foot boat. We had went out early in the morning and found ourselves about 2 miles from the ramp when a storm blew in quickly and the wind picked up to about 30-40mph in a few minutes. That was the scariest trip back with 3 foot waves crashing into us from the side. Even the old man was scared which never happened. We were damn happy to be sitting in the truck completely drenched and cold.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

10 miles out on Erie, just got our last fish and started into the wind to head back and the motor started to shake violently, turns out a prop blade had snapped at the hub. Changed props in 25 fow in 3 to 4s, guy holding my belt, rope around the wrench and wrist and praying I did not drop the nut. Huge sigh of relief upon getting back underway and then back to landing.

 

[LBrandt]

Most nasty on the water for me was on Bitter lake SD. Way in south west corner of lake when wind went from 5 to 45 in about 10 min. Ride back to dock was damed interesting .Wife was with and first time in rough water for her and dog. Waves were coming direct into access so it was a real shit show, but got off with minimal damage. The dents in boat from dock and trailer just remind me to never do that again.

 

[JayKay]

10 miles out on Erie, just got our last fish and started into the wind to head back and the motor started to shake violently, turns out a prop blade had snapped at the hub. Changed props in 25 fow in 3 to 4s, guy holding my belt, rope around the wrench and wrist and praying I did not drop the nut. Huge sigh of relief upon getting back underway and then back to landing.

that does sound like a pretty good pucker-factor. Just so you know though, you can still go forward without a prop nut. Just don't, for the love of God, put it in reverse.

- - - Updated - - -

My now-wife and I were going to overnight on a sandbar in the Missouri River, with a bunch of friends. Sandbar party. We had the afternoon off, and most others had to work. I did not have a boat at the time. Just a two person Sea-Doo. I borrowed a pal's boat, and took a load of stuff to the sand bar. Tents, coolers, my now-wife, etc. After unloading all onto the sandbar, I took the boat back to the ramp, loaded it, took it back to my pal (he was joining us a few hours later), hitched up my Sea-Doo and then went back to the sand bar.

We have my little sea-doo, and a literal boat-load of gear on this sandbar.

Storm rolls in.

Tent is set up. Skies are getting black. We're standing on the beach, debating leaving all of this stuff and running back to the ramp, when I give her a funny look. Her hair is literally standing straight up. As I watched, it went out sideways, then stood straight up.

We dive in the tent, lightning is hitting the suddenly whitecapped water, raining sideways harder than I've ever seen. Unbelievable.

Half hour later it's over. Screw the gear, we're out. Get to the ramp, and several of the people who were going to join us, had decided to wait it out in their vehicles, watching lightning strikes out on the water, while we were about 3 miles away in a tent, about 18" above the water.

Still, she married me...